Cinderella Tenten
by BrandiAlyssa
Summary: Tenten attends a formal masquerade and dances with her teammate and crush, Neji. He doesn't recognize who she is and tells her that he hates Tenten. Why does he? How will this confession affect the Weapons Mistress? Rated for mild violence.


**Cinderella Tenten**

by Trisana of Burns

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A kind of random story I wrote up when I was procrastinating my organic chemistry. Neji talks a bit more than usual but whatever.

A young woman stepped through the doors of the grand hall and stood at the top of the stairs. Her brown eyes, hidden behind a mask, roamed the crowd below her; she searched for a single person. She hoped that she would find him and he would dance with her, even if he didn't recognize her; his face, however, was nowhere to be found. The young woman's heart sank a little, but she held herself proud. The young woman that graced the top of the stair was none other than Kohona's Weapons Mistress, Tenten

Tenten smoothed down the fabric of her dress before taking the first step; it ruffled around her feet. Pale blue-green, the halter neck dress just barely brushed the floor. The satin fabric of the bodice flowed smoothly to her hips then tapered off to the right, ending just below her knees. Underneath the satin layer, soft netting formed three more layers. At the back, the satin material was laced together, crisscrossing her back four times before falling in a bow. On the front, a starburst of clear and topaz crystals spread across her chest and waist. On her feet she wore simple silver heels, with two straps crossing over her toes. She wore a simple white mask, but it was her hair, she believed, that would misguide people in their judging of her identity.

She had worn her hair up for as long as she could remember, but Hinata convinced her to wear it down just for this one night. Not only did she let Hinata convince her to wear it down, but she also let the Hyuuga heiress cut it. It now fell in long layers and soft curls around her face and down her back. The longest bits of her hair reached just below the bow at the back of her dress. Helping to hold back all but a few curls, a headband with a serpentine vine of roses and leaves between two bands of crystals sat bright in her dark hair. It took a lot of coaxing from Hinata to get her to wear it.

Tenten looked back among the people as she descended the stairs. The annual formal masquerade ball. It wasn't something Tenten usually went to, but something pulled her toward it this year. This was one of the very rare occasions that the people of Kohona would ever see her in a dress, especially one as elegant as this. It had been loaned to her by Hinata, under the condition she found someone to dance with that night.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to find a seat on the sidelines, where she was doomed to sit in all dances, she thought, a hand entered her vision. She looked up to meet a pair of blue eyes. Though the young man wore a mask and no orange in sight, it wasn't hard to tell that it was Naruto.

"Would you like to dance, Lady?" he asked. Tenten warily took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the floor. She was a bit skeptical; she had never learned how to dance properly, neither of them truly had. Her fears of sore feet were erased when the young man swept her into the dance. He laughed at the surprised look on her face. "Did you not think I could dance?" Tenten kept her voice silent, but shook her head. "Do I get the pleasure of knowing the name of such a beautiful lady?" Again he received the shake of her head. "What is this? Do you have no voice tonight?"

"I do, but you shall not know my name."

Naruto laughed. "Very well then." As the dance came to a close, she looked over to see Hinata watching them, her eyes saddened. "I enjoyed this dance. Perhaps I can have another?"

An idea formed in Tenten's head. "Not with me, but I believe the young woman over there would like to dance." Naruto turned to see where she pointed.

Hinata stood along the wall, her eyes to the ground. Her dark hair was piled in curls on her head, a silver tiara set against them. A necklace of silver, crystals and pearls lay delicately around her neck. Her lilac dress fell softly from the empire waist into delicate cascades on the skirt around her; the scalloped bust and spaghetti straps sparkled with delicate beading and sequins.

"She is very beautiful," Tenten said, "but not as a wallflower. Ask her to dance and stay with her if she faints." She gave him a little push, as he was entranced by the other young woman, and disappeared into the crowd.

Tenten made her way to the wall and sat on one of the empty benches beneath a window. She sat there silently scanning the crowd, occasionally letting her eyes drift to where Naruto and Hinata danced. Hinata was fairly red, but there was a smile on her lips and joy in her eyes. Naruto looked like he was the happiest man on Earth dancing with a princess. Tenten sighed and looked down at her hands. She closed her eyes, only to open them when another hand settled on hers.

"You should heed your own advice." Tenten knew the deep voice that spoke to her, but dared not to look up, just in case she was dreaming. "Would you dance with me?" She contemplated for a moment before turning her hand over and grasping his lightly. Her eyes stayed on the floor and her feet as he led her out and began the dance. As they twirled around the floor, he brought one hand up and tilted her face to his. "Though I do not know you, have I done something to offend you already?"

She shook her head. "No, it is only that I do not feel worthy of your attention, Hyuuga-san. But, at the same time, I feel this may be the only chance I have to be so close to a person such as yourself."

The black mask he wore covered a good portion of his face, but she could see his eyes and that was all she needed to read his mood. His grip loosened considerable and he gave her a skeptical look. "Are you one of my fan club?"

She shook her head, curls moving to fall over her shoulders. "No. I admire you, this is true, but not for your looks or your wealth; I admire you for your attitude, your strength, and your marvelous ability to put up with Rock Lee and Maito Guy." A smirk twisted his lips before becoming neutral again. "But I bet your fan club wishes they were in my position right now."

"I bet they do, but none of them are as beautiful as you." Tenten blushed bright red and looked away.

They were silent for a while, watching the people around them and each other. The song changed once then twice before Tenten said anything. "Will you tell me something?"

"Maybe."

"I've heard others complain or praise their female teammates. What… what do you think about having a woman on the team?"

He looked down at her. For a second she felt he could see past her mask and that he knew who she was. All he had to do was activate his byakugan and he would know. She was about to look away when he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Can you keep a secret, Lady?" She nodded, her breath tight in her chest. "There is a female on my team named Tenten. There are many who think she is weak because she has no bloodline specialty or an amazing healing ability; she is plain, they say." The young woman rested her forehead on his shoulder, comfortable in his embrace. She prepared herself for whatever he was going to say about her. "I was one of those people for many years. But she has proven herself strong and capable. She has handled everything that has been thrown at her with a smile and deadly accuracy. I hate her though." Tenten kept her fingers lax on his shoulder and in his hand as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep her emotions in check. "I hate her and—"

As Neji was about to finish his sentence, a hand gripped Tenten's upper arm and pulled her from him. The force behind the hand was enough to send the kunochi crashing to the floor. She looked up to see another young woman standing over her. The person's dark blond hair was half pulled up and her eyes were filled with fury. Tenten couldn't see how she could wear the dress she was. The yellow material only reached to mid-thigh and what at least was supposed to be the neckline dropped all the way past her naval; a small tie held the back together. She stood over the kunochi, hands on her hips. Neji was nowhere in sight. The other person's hand snapped out and slapped Tenten across the face. The ninja reached for a weapon only to realize she had none; she had taken them all off and left them behind for the night.

"How dare you!" the girl screeched. "How dare you get near MY Neji-kun?"

Tenten got to her feet, wary of the dress. She said, "He does not belong to you." When the kunochi turned to leave, the girl's hand twisted in her hair and pulled sharply. Tears instantly sprang to Tenten's eyes as she was brought to her knees in pain.

When Tenten looked up into the angry eyes, the girl said, "Well I like him and he doesn't belong to you, you stupid whore."

Tenten grasped the wrist hold her hair and dug her nails in. "I don't care if he hates me, I love him, and always have, but he doesn't belong to you or me. The only person Hyuuga-san belongs to is himself." Tenten pulled the girl's hand from her hair and shoved her away. She saw Neji behind the girl and began to stand, fearing he heard what she had said. The girl, in a fit, dove at Tenten. She managed to grab the white mask as Tenten shoved her away and Neji pulled. The elastic band snapped and the mask fell to the floor. Tenten kept her eyes to the floor as her hair provided her with some cover. She heard Neji tell the girl to get out of his sight completely and start to approach her.

"Tenten?" came a voice that was not Neji's. His footsteps stopped cold. Tenten finally looked up when the soft voice called her name again. Hinata stood to the side, wrapped protectively in Naruto's embrace. In the corner of her vision she saw movement and turned to see Neji shifting his weight.

"I—" she said, her voice hitching. Tenten turned and fled from the scene, up the stairs and into the night. People parted in front of her but no one followed behind.

She ran until she reached a fountain some blocks away. She knelt down beside it and laid her head on the cold stone. Tears fell from her eyes and sobs shook her shoulders. "He hates me," she whispered. "I try so hard to please him, to be nice to him, and he still hates me."

"If you would have let me finish, you would know my reason." Tenten's head shot up and her eyes flew to the Hyuuga standing before her. His mask was gone, leaving his face clear and untouched. Tenten felt ugly and unworthy of his attention now that she knew he hated her; she could still feel where the girl had slapped her and that it was starting to bruise. She turned from him, hiding her face.

"You hate me and yet you still look at me, you still train with me. I'll go and request a team transfer so you'll never have to deal with me again." Tenten got to her feet and began to leave, tears still streaking down her face. She stopped when Neji gripped her wrist.

"Tenten, will you listen to me before you run off?" She stood in place when he released her but did not face him. "There is only one thing I hate about you." He turned her so he could wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Don't cry and hear me out; I think you'll like why I hate you."

"I'll like why you hate me? Doesn't that seem, oh I don't know, a bit wrong?"

"Shhh. Listen to me. You're a beautiful young woman, Tenten. You're also strong physically and mentally. You take everything in and finish every mission with a smile on your face, hiding everything going on inside you." He settled his hands on her hips and leaned his forehead against hers. "I hate you," he said softly, "for making me fall in love and not letting me know how you felt about me. I know now, however, so I don't hate you." He hugged her and pressed a kiss to her brow. "I love you, Tenten. I want you to know that."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know that now. And I… I love you too."

Music floated down from the open doors of the dance hall. "Shall we dance?" Without waiting for an answer, Neji twirled her around and together they danced under the stars.

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Links to Tenten's Dress, Headband, and Shoes, Hinata's Dress and Tiara set, and Neji's Fan Girl's Dress can be found in my profile.

Reviews please!


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